Korean War

Although Korea is, in many regards, Canada's "forgotten" war, it stands as an important milestone in the nation's military history. Canada's participation helped to establish a tradition of Canadian involvement in UN military actions that has endured for over four decades and demonstrated a willingness when needed to send Canadian soldiers to war rather deploying them as peacekeepers keeping armed adversaries at bay.

The 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI) arrived in Korea on 18 December 1950 and entered the war in February of 1951 as part of the 27th British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade (27th BCIB).

At Kap'yong, 2 PPCLI, and two other Commonwealth units, won a United States Presidential Unit Citation. In a desperate battle, they stopped a Chinese attack, which ultimately prevented a massive Chinese breakthrough in central Korea.

In a situation similar to 2 PPCLI’s defence of Hill 677 at Kap'yong, the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment (the Van Doos), with a skillfully fought defence of their positions adjacent to the US-held Hill 355, stopped the Chinese from capturing an area that would have compromised the United Nations line of defences.